The British Interplanetary Society has announced the launch of a series of Prestige Lectures, commencing with a talk by actor Brian Blessed. In addition to his acting career Blessed is a long time supporter of space exploration, having supported the BIS’ Campaign for Human Spaceflight and voiced promotional material for Reaction Engines. He has also recently completed astronaut training and will be speaking about this and his interest in space travel.
Tickets are already selling fast and can now only be ordered by calling the BIS directly on 020 7735 3160. Doors open at 5.30 pm, with the talk commencing at 6.30 pm. Tickets are priced at £10.00 for BIS members and £20.00 for non-members, including refreshments.
Source: British Interplanetary Society
The International Astronautical Federation 2012 Emerging Space Leaders Grant Programme provides opportunities for students and young professionals to participate in the annual International Astronautical Congresses. Applications opened on 1st January 2012 and the IAF is accepting applications until 1st February.
The young people selected to participate in the 2012 Emerging Space Leaders Grant Programme will participate in the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) scheduled to take place in Naples, Italy from 1 to 5 October 2012. The individuals selected will also be given the opportunity to participate in other activities held the week prior and during the Congress such as the UN/IAF Workshop and the Space Generation Congress (SGC).
Students and Young Professionals between the ages of 21 and 35 with space-related career interests 2012 are encouraged to apply for the programme from the 1 January to the 1 February 2012. Up to twelve students and young professionals will be selected by the IAF to participate in the 2012 programme.
For more information and application forms, please visit www.iafastro.org/eslgrants or email eslgrants@iafastro.org.
Source: IAF Secretariat
The BBC in association with the Open University is presenting another Stargazing Live, starting tonight (16 January at 8.30pm) and lasting for three nights. Along side the TV show there are 100′s of events taking place around the country involving amateur astronomers as well as academics and the general public. To find an even near you visit the BBC Website. Plus there is more information on the Open University Website and follow #bbcstargazing on Twitter.
SEDSIC is the international conference of SEDS: an annual get-together of SEDS members around the world. This year the conference is being held at VIT University in Vellore, India on 2nd – 4th March; the theme will be “Students vision for global space sciences and technology”.
SEDS organises the International Conference (SEDSIC) each year as an annual get-together of SEDS members worldwide to share their knowledge with regard to the current development in the field of aerospace and astronomy. VIT University, Vellore was chosen as the venue for 2007. The event will host a series of lectures and workshops, including something playful!
Registration is due to open soon; submission of paper and poster abstracts is open until 20th January. For more information please go to http://www.sedsic12.com/.
At the start of December PoleCATS was invited to send representatives to a selection workshop at the European Space Agency headquarters in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Four team members travelled by train and ferry, and presented the proposed project to a panel of experts from all of the organising bodies. The presentation went very well and the PoleCATS team were glad to hear that they have been selected to fly on a sounding rocket in February/March 2013, launching from arctic Sweden!
The team have already started work on the next stage of the project: the Preliminary Design Review, which will be submitted in February. Again, representatives will need to travel to present our work, this time to the launch site in northern Sweden.
If you are interested in find out more about the project you can check the UKSEDS Project page or the PoleCATS team website.
To follow the team’s progress why not follow us on Twitter or like our new Facebook page? 
The UK Space Agency has opened the 2012 round of its International Space University competitive scholarship scheme. The scheme is open to UK citizens to help fund them to attend ISU’s Space Studies Programms and MSc programmes. Up to £30,000 is being made available to be shared between successful candidates.
Chris Brunskill attended the 2011 Space Studies Programme in Austria. He said “During the programme I had the chance to take lectures provided by leading experts in the many disciplines that make up the modern space industry. I was able to get hands on experience with technical equipment and participate in the planning of a live mission. I was also able to work with a fantastic, proactive and intelligent group of fellow participants from around the world. I hope future beneficiaries of the UK Space Agency funding programme will gain as much as I have from this experience.”
The successful candidates will be chosen by a panel consisting of representatives from the UK Space Agency and Space Education Trust, with consultation from ISU. Students will be expected to show evidence of some external support including sourcing €1000 towards their study themselves. The deadline for applying for funding for the Space Studies Programme is 31st January 2012; the deadline for the Masters programme is 15th March (deadlines for non-funded places are later). Application is through the ISU website.
Source: UK Space Agency
The Science and Technology Facilities Council is now accepting applications for their 2012 Graduate Scheme. STFC is looking for graduates achieving at least an upper second class Bachelors or Masters degree in engineering, physics or computing science who have graduated within 18 months of applying.
The vacancies currently on offer are:
- IRC34555 – Technology Microelectronics Engineer
- IRC34557 – ISIS Electrical Engineer
- IRC34558 – CICT Web, System and Database Designer
- IRC34559 – ASTeC RF Engineer
- IRC34560 – ASTeC RF Scientist
- IRC34561 – ASTeC Laser Scientist/Engineer
- IRC34562 – UK ATC Software Developer
- IRC34563 – RAL Space Mechanical Engineer
- IRC34564 – ISIS Mechanical Design Engineer
- IRC34565 – e-Science Software Engineer
- IRC34995 – ISIS Electrical Design Engineering
- IRC35715 – ISIS Software Engineer
- IRC35716 – ISIS Software Engineer – Mantid
- IRC37275 – UK ATC Electronics Engineer
The vacancies are located at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, the Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington and the UK Astronomy Technology Centre near Edinburgh. Starting salaries are £23,442.
The closing date for applications is the 31st December 2011. For more information and to apply please go to the STFC website http://www.stfc.ac.uk/About+STFC/24625.aspx.
ESA has posted its Young Graduate Trainee vacancies for 2012, with applications open until 18th December. These one-year positions are an excellent opportunity to gain experience in the development and operation of space missions. You also get to live and work for a year in another country.
The YGT offers some generous terms and conditions, including:
- monthly remuneration (the basic net salary, or ‘take-home pay’, for a single expatriate YGT is about €2200 per month depending on the location of the ESA Establishment)
- an expatriation allowance, plus an installation allowance on arrival, for those not resident in the country to which they are assigned
- travel expenses at the beginning and end of the contract (including travel expenses for spouse and children if they reside with the trainee during the contract)
- 2.5 days paid leave per month
- health cover under ESA’s Social Security scheme
Applicants are usually at Masters degree level from a university or an equivalent institute. Please note, you can only apply for one YGT opportunity, and should only send in one application form. You must also be a citizen of an ESA member state or a European Co-operating State.
To apply, go to http://www.esa.int/hr/ygt.htm. For more information on the Young Graduate Trainee programme, go to http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Careers_at_ESA/SEMYHEITPQG_0.html.
Do you fancy writing popular science articles for one of the largest student newspapers in the country? Experimentation is a new student-led online science magazine and they are looking for additional writers for their physical sciences section. Experimentation’s sister publications, Erudition and Intuition have already built up tens of thousands of readers from across Europe and Experimentation is expected to do just as well.
No prior experience is necessary. This is an opportunity to write about any area of science that interests you, for a large international audience. For more information please contact Alistair Jacklin at alistair.jacklin@gmail.com or go to www.experimentation-online.co.uk.
Voting has now closed and we are pleased to be able to confirm that the UKSEDS constitution has now been changed. All those who took part in the vote were in favour of the new version.
We will continue to display a copy of the constitution on the Constitution Page for reference.
Thank you for voting.
The Committee
